Wednesday night in a Potomac District Tournament semi-final, Potomac Falls used an 11-0 fourth quarter run to rally past Briar Woods for a 57-49 victory. With the win, the Panthers advance to the tourney title game Friday at top-seeded Riverside.
Briar Woods seemed to have the upper hand going into the final quarter. The visiting Falcons only had one three-pointer in the first half, but buried four in the third quarter to open up a 42-37 lead. As the fourth opened, Falcons guard Nicholas Donatella found fellow junior Josh Winklosky open for a bucket to extend the visitors’ lead to seven.
That’s when Potomac Falls made its 11-0 surge. Senior Brennan Hytten and sophomore Adit Apte buried key three-pointers, and the Panthers were buoyed by the play of senior center Troy Hooper, who had 12 points and nine rebounds in the second half. After a Devon Pettibone layup stopped the Potomac Falls run, Hooper scored on two consecutive possessions to extend his team’s lead to 52-46. After that, the outcome was essentially decided.
Hooper finished with 16 points and 13 rebounds. He, Hytten, and Troy Dellinger were honored before the game, as the Panthers were unable to play their Senior Night game during the regular season due to weather.
Sophomore Joshua Orbida added 12 points for the Panthers (18-5), burying a lot of free throws late to ice the contest. Apte added 10 points, as Potomac Falls avenged a home loss to Briar Woods almost two weeks prior.
Freshman guard Finn Gardner led Briar Woods (9-14) with 10 points. The Falcons, like the Panthers, will play in next week’s 5D Regional Tournament.
–Chris Jollay
all statistics are unofficial
| POTOMAC FALLS | FG | FT | TP | REB | AST | |
| ORBIDA | 2-8 | 7-10 | 12 | 2 | 1 | |
| HYTTEN | 1-2 | 2-2 | 5 | 1 | 0 | |
| HOOPER | 7-9 | 2-4 | 16 | 13 | 2 | |
| APTE | 4-9 | 0-1 | 10 | 4 | 2 | |
| DELLINGER | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Pawlowski | 1-2 | 1-2 | 3 | 5 | 1 | |
| Call | 1-5 | 2-2 | 4 | 2 | 2 | |
| Herring | 2-4 | 0-0 | 5 | 3 | 1 | |
| Keller | 1-2 | 0-0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | |
| Hasbrouck | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
| Bell | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| TOTALS | 19-42 | 14-21 | 57 | 31 | 9 | |
| Threes: Apte 2-6, Hytten 1-1, Herring 1-1, Orbida 1-5, Keller 0-1, Call 0-1 | ||||||
| BRIAR WOODS | FG | FT | TP | REB | AST | |
| PETTIBONE | 3-10 | 2-2 | 9 | 2 | 0 | |
| ECKHAUS | 1-2 | 0-0 | 2 | 2 | 1 | |
| WINKLOSKY | 3-3 | 1-2 | 7 | 6 | 4 | |
| GARDNER | 4-10 | 1-2 | 10 | 4 | 3 | |
| FRAIM | 3-8 | 1-2 | 8 | 5 | 1 | |
| Keltz | 2-6 | 0-0 | 4 | 2 | 1 | |
| Donatella | 2-4 | 1-2 | 7 | 0 | 1 | |
| Price | 1-5 | 0-0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | |
| Kelley | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Mayhew | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| TOTALS | 19-48 | 6-10 | 49 | 21 | 11 | |
| Threes: Donatella 2-3, Gardner 1-2, Fraim 1-2, Pettibone 1-3, Keltz 0-1, Price 0-3 | ||||||